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How Entitlement Can Turn into Gratitude in Recovery

Since childhood, we are constantly trying to get the things that we want under the guise of telling our parents that we need it. Most of us cannot differentiate between the stuff that we want versus the stuff we actually need. To want something is the sheer desire to have what we want when we want it instead of sticking to the few basic needs that are instrumental for our survival. Here in the United States we are spoiled rotten with the freedoms and luxuries that we are privy to. Most of us take our material indulgences for granted every single day especially someone in the depths of their addiction.

Those of us that get the opportunity to get sober realize that we were entitled and selfish with the actions we were taking in our addiction and began to make the necessary changes to prevent us from drinking or using again. This seems like a slow process for many of us as we utilized the 12-Steps and our therapy to help see the error of our ways. We realize in our journey that we did not want recovery. We needed recovery to keep us on the straight and narrow.

There are not too many people who come into recovery on a winning streak unless that means alienating all of our loved ones or going to jail the most. We decide early on we just do not really want to be here, but we keep coming back because we need to get “them” off our tail. Somewhere in our sentence to go to 12-Step meetings, whether personal or mandatory, we begin to hear the solution and start doing things in our program that are good for us. Turns out these changes in our daily life are beneficial to our loved ones too and they start to change their tune with how they interact with us.

Instead of being appalled by our addictive behaviors, they begin to believe that we know that we need to change our ways which makes them support us in our recovery even more. In fact, our loved ones may do their due diligence and get help for themselves to keep up with the growth that we are displaying to them.

Although recovery may not have been on the agenda when we started going downhill in our addiction, in hindsight we could not be happier that this is where we ended up. Recovery has it difficulties and its incredibilites and we should be so lucky to keep being rocketed into the 4th dimension of recovery. If we did not change from entitled to grateful, we would not be able to comprehend what the 4th dimension entails until we get to live it.

Serenity Oaks Wellness Center can help anyone who is struggling with drugs and alcohol to get sober. Our medical and clinical staff work closely together to give you a chance to adorn your soul in recovery.